Eight central Kentuckians selected to Team Kentucky for 2022 Special Olympics USA Games

FRANKFORT, Ky. (WTVQ/Press Release) – Eight central Kentucky athletes and coaches have been named to the Team Kentucky delegation that will compete in the 2022 Special Olympics USA Games next June in Orlando, Florida.

Rachael Connor of Versailles and Aliya White of Lexington will compete in artistic gymnastics, Lexington’s Megan McCormick will compete in swimming. Athlete Wake Mullins and Unified partner Dennis Gaines will compete in Unified golf. Mary Fehrenbach of Versailles will serve as the Team Kentucky gymnastics coach. Michael Ghant of Frankfort will coach the Team Kentucky bowlers. Nick McKenzie of Lexington will coach Kentucky’s golfers.

Connor, 24, is the only first-time USA Games participant in the Team Kentucky gymnastics delegation. She has been involved in Special Olympics for seven years, and has participated in gymnastics for that entire time. She has also competed in soccer and cheerleading.

In addition to competition, Connor is a member of the 2021 Special Olympics Kentucky Athlete Leadership Program class and is an accomplished singer.

White, 16, is making her second consecutive trip to the USA Games. She was also a member of the “Fab Five” Team Kentucky gymnastics team at the 2018 USA Games in Seattle, Wash., where she earned four medals, including gold on the balance beam and silver in the all-around. With her teammates, White was profiled in the leadup to the Games in an ESPN feature by Julie Foudy. She was also featured during ESPN’s broadcast of the opening ceremonies.

White has been part of the Special Olympics gymnastics program for nine years and has also competed in cheerleading. Her cheerleading squad traveled to the 2015 Special Olympics World Summer Games in Los Angeles to cheer on her fellow athletes.

McCormick, 32, will be making her third USA Games appearance, having swam at the 2010 and 2018 Games. In 2010 she claimed a silver medal in the 100-meter butterfly. In Seattle in 2018 she again won silver in the 100 butterfly and added a second silver medal in the 100-meter freestyle as well as a bronze in the 4×50-meter medley relay.

McCormick has also appeared twice in the World Summer Games. In 2003 in Dublin, Ireland she competed in artistic gymnastics and won five medals, including two golds and two silvers. She was part of the Special Olympics USA swimming delegation at the 2007 World Summer Games in Shanghai, China, garnering one silver and one bronze medal. She has been a Special Olympics athlete for 24 years and has competed in cheerleading in addition to swimming and gymnastics.

Away from sports, McCormick is a trained Special Olympics Global Messenger and regularly speaks on behalf of Special Olympics, as well as the Down Syndrome Association of Central Kentucky. She is an accomplished pianist and also works as a classroom assistant in Fayette County Public Schools.

Mullins and Gaines will be competing together for the second Consecutive USA Games. They claimed a bronze medal in the 18-hole Unified alternate shot competition at the 2018 Games in Seattle. They will compete in that same event this year. The pair were featured during the closing ceremonies at those Games, appearing on stage with then-ESPN personality Kenny Maine

Mullins, 25, has been a Special Olympics athlete for 14 years and has been playing golf for all 14. He has also competed in basketball, softball, flag football, soccer, track and field and bocce. He is a graduate of Henry Clay High School in Lexington, where he served as the school’s basketball manager for four years. He also played for the school’s golf team for two years. Before graduation, he was added to the school’s Athletics Wall of Fame.

Gaines is Mullins’ stepfather in addition to being his Unified partner. He gained fame at the 2018 Games when he recorded the first hole in one of his golf career during the second round. Gaines has been a Unified partner in Special Olympics for 13 years. He also serves as a Special Olympics coach, coaching flag football, softball and basketball in the Fayette County Special Olympics program. Gaines is retired from Special Olympics sponsor Toyota Motor Manufacturing in Georgetown and works now as a consultant.

Fehrenbach may be the most experienced coach in the Special Olympics Kentucky program, having served for 29 years in both Virginia and Kentucky. She will be making her fourth trip to the USA Games as the Team Kentucky gymnastics head coach, and is the only person ever to hold that position for Team Kentucky. The 2011 Special Olympics North America Coach of the Year, Fehrenbach’s teams have now won an incredible 63 medals at the USA Games, including 21 at the 2018 Games in Seattle. She has also served as the head gymnastics coach for Team USA at a number of Special Olympics World Games events and produced similar results.

In addition to the 2006, 2010, 2014 and 2018 USA Games, Fehrenbach is a veteran of the 1999, 2003, 2007, 2011 and 2019 Special Olympics World Summer Games, where she also served as a Gymnastics coach. Along with Gymnastics, Fehrenbach has coached multiple Special Olympics cheerleading squads. Her work with the Legacy Showcats in Lexington helped pave the way for special needs cheerleading programs throughout the United States. She works as a freelance sign-language interpreter.

Ghant will coach the Team Kentucky bowlers at the USA Games. A teacher at Stewart Home and School in Frankfort, Ghant has served as a Special Olympics coach for 19 years, coaching basketball, flag football, golf and softball in addition to bowling. He has also been a Unified partner, competing in both golf and bowling. The 2017 Special Olympics Kentucky coach of the year, Ghant has also competed at the Special Olympics Unified Bowling National Invitational Tournament four times. He is an avid bowler in his free time and has recorded multiple perfect games. This will be his first trip to the USA Games.

McKenzie will also be making his first trip to the USA Games, serving as the Team Kentucky golf coach. McKenzie now serves as the Special Olympics Kentucky program manager for individual sports, organizing the Special Olympics Kentucky bocce, equestrian, gymnastics and swimming programs in addition to golf. He got his start with Special Olympics as an intern while he was a student at Morehead State University.

“We’re excited to once again have the opportunity to send athletes and coaches to the USA Games,” said Special Olympics Kentucky President and CEO Trish Mazzoni. “Being selected to Team Kentucky for the Games is not only a tremendous honor for our athletes, but it offers a great opportunity for personal growth. We have seen many of our athletes be transformed by this experience at the previous four USA Games that have been held. Plus, with these Games being held largely at Disney’s Wide World of Sports complex, it will be a one-of-a-kind environment and a chance to compete in world-class facilities.”

Special Olympics Kentucky will send 34 athletes, seven Unified partners and 16 coaches to the Games. They will compete in eight sports – artistic gymnastics, bocce, bowling, flag football, golf, swimming, track and field and Unified basketball. The total cost of sending Team Kentucky to the 2022 USA Games is expected to approach $100,000. For information about how you can help sponsor the team or to donate, contact Trish Mazzoni at 502-695-8222 or tmazzoni@soky.org.

For more information about Team Kentucky or about the USA Games, contact Special Olympics Kentucky Director of Communications and External Relations Mark Buerger at 502-695-8222 or mbuerger@soky.org.

The 2022 USA Games are the fifth such games in Special Olympics history. Past USA Games were held in 2006 in Ames, Iowa; 2010 in Lincoln, Neb.; in 2014 in New Jersey; and in 2018 in Seattle, Wash.

The 2022 Special Olympics USA Games, scheduled for June 5-12, 2022, in Orlando, Florida, will unite more than 5,500 athletes and coaches from all 50 states and the Caribbean during one of the country’s most cherished sporting events–the 2022 Special Olympics USA Games. The USA Games will offer 19 Olympic-style team and individual sports, including athletics (track & field), basketball, bocce, bowling, cheerleading, equestrian, flag football, golf, gymnastics, open water swimming, powerlifting, soccer, softball, stand up paddleboard, surfing, swimming, tennis, triathlon and volleyball.